ARA Asset Management, part of Li Ka-Shing’s Cheung Kong group of companies, said it closed a fund that will buy the Suntec Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Centre for $235 million.
The ARA Harmony Fund is a joint venture with Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust and other private investors, ARA Asset said in a statement to the Singapore stock exchange yesterday. ARA Asset will be appointed the asset manager and convention and exhibition service provider for Suntec Singapore once the acquisition is completed, it added.
ARA Asset is buying Suntec Singapore to tap on the centre’s 1 million square feet of floor space in downtown Singapore, the company said. The Singapore Tourism Board has said it wants to grow convention-related spending to $10.5 billion by 2015.
“Suntec Singapore is a prized asset with excellent potential for enhancement,” John Lim, chief executive of the ARA Group, said in the statement. “Given our role as the manager of Suntec REIT which owns the adjoining Suntec City Mall, ARA is in a good position to tap the synergistic potential of the two properties.Suntec REIT, which manages the downtown Suntec City office and retail development, will invest $25 million, which will be funded by external borrowings, the property trust said in a separate statement.
The fund aims to complete the purchase by the third quarter of this year, it added.
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